Book Review: The 6 Types of Working Genius

There are quite a few assessments out there: Meyers-Briggs, DiSC, and more. It seems Mr. Lencioni has taken this up one more level.

In addition to identifying how you’re wired, where you gain fulfillment, where you can excel, this system also assesses what type of work (personal or business) brings the most frustration, drains you of your energy. You might even have some skill and can rise to the challenge when the work is needed, but the tasks don’t ‘feed’ you, rather they’re draining.

As in his other books, there is a story-line, a Fable, about an advertising company. As the founder looked back at his career, he started to piece together places and situations where he had been successful and felt fulfilled in his work, and times where he dreaded Sunday nights, feeling defeated before the week even began! From there, he adds others to the discussion and begins to piece together the strengths of his teams, the working categories of the company, and where they had strength as well as empty roles across the group.

On the Responsive side, there’s Wonder, Discernment, and Enablement. On the Disruptive side, there’s Invention, Galvanizing, and Tenacity. After the story, he dives into what each of these categories mean and how they play into the overall ’getting the work done’ needs.

I shared the book with Chris and asked for some follow up. Before I knew it, he was inviting our team members to take the assessment! Definitely Recommended – CMW